newly published research. These temples—Unesco World Heritage Sites among them—were constructed across the archipelago between 3800BC and 2400BC, and their function has long remained a mystery.

“It is possible that the Maltese temples, in addition to other cosmological, religious or social roles that they may have had, could have also been used to train or teach navigation-by-the-stars to younger generations,” write Fabio Silva of Bournemouth University and fellow researcher Tore Lomsdalen, in their paper published in the journal Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences.